Last Chance
by writtxn.dreams
Summary: Hermione, Blaise, Draco and Pansy form the Silver Four, Slytherin's most glamorous elite. This year however Draco's plans to take down Harry Potter seem more serious than ever, but Hermione is the only one to notice. Mutiple non-canon pairings. Rated M for smut in non-capital chapters.
1. Chapter 1

**Last Chance**

Chapter One

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Pulling my trunk behind me, my tawny owl throwing angry looks at the Muggles staring at it, I couldn't help but joining my messenger's mood, even if my anger was rather towards the wizards surrounding us. They were all so pathetic when the first of September finally showed the tip of its nose. I snorted loudly as the Weasley family ran past me in an orange flash of light. Except for famous Harry Potter at the far end of their never-ending queue, even a goblin would have given a better Muggle-disguise. And I thought that as Head of the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Department, Arthur Weasley would know better than to combine dusty pin-striped trousers with a loose hippy flower-embroidered blouse.

Finally deciding that those matters were far from being my problem, I flattened the black silk dress Narcissa had given me last Christmas and casually leaned again the barrier between platform nine and ten. A second later, I stood next to the great flaming red Hogwarts Express, thick white smoke issuing from the engine and covering the chatty crowd. I slightly sighted at the picture of dozens of Hogwarts students, young and older, flinging their arms around their parents' neck a last time before the departure of the train.

Taking my eyes off the Ravenclaw-Gryffindor Patil twins, another group of Potter-lovers - though Parvati might not be so fond of him any more since the Yule Ball - I finally entered the train. The Yule Ball … Of all the girls who threw themselves at Draco's feet in fourth year, how could he have chosen Pansy Parkinson and her bulldog face? If at least she was witty or funny … Dispelling any trace of anger from my face as I caught a glimpse of Draco's compartment, I greeted my friends with a face as blank of emotions as Crabbe's mind was blank of any spirit, as always, while Goyle hoisted my trunk up into the luggage rack.

"Alone once again, Granger?" commented Pansy as I took place in front of her, between Draco and Blaise. Pansy had never bared the idea that Draco always kept a seat for me next to him.

"Everybody doesn't need to be pampered until their majority" I backfired coolly. The guys slightly smirked. Pansy's parents wouldn't leave her alone before the last call, whatever we now were in sixth year now or not. In fact, they were both still standing behind the train's window, beaming at her.

"Funny, to me it rather sounds like you have something to hide." Pansy asked, boring deeper into my lies.

"My family is the purest of France. You wouldn't expect them to travel all the way here just to see their daughter step onto a train, would you? They are very busy people, I expect you can understand that, Draco." I explained, now gazing at Draco for some support.

"That's probably why they didn't send you to Beauxbâtons, because they have so much influence there" mocked Pansy.

His platinum-blond hair shining in the morning's light, Draco seemed to still be considering if he would or wouldn't take part in our constant squabbling. Last year, he would have jumped right into this occasion to talk about his family's wealth, but today he was somehow so silent that he resembled Blaise. Crabbe and Goyle also looked at him expectantly now, seeking any sign of the next best reaction to fake. They were completely at a loss since Draco had somewhat dumped them for Blaise, Pansy and me – though he and I were always close. Finally, he raised his head to meet my eyes, scratching his pointy chin.

"Pansy, we discussed this a thousand times. Hermione has been a Slytherin for over five years now, so she is one of us" he simply settled.

Pansy frowned for a moment, but quickly forgot our altercation as later Draco sent Crabbe and Goyle to properly _greet_ some first years in his name, laying over their seats to let her play with his hair. As they started snogging, I finally looked away, quite surprised to see that they were now dating. Pansy ended up having what she wanted then. Deciding not to waste another second watching them, I turned over to Blaise.

"Mind looking for the food trolley?" she asked.

He shrugged and followed me out the compartment. We didn't go far though. A few feet from our compartment, we fell face to face with Ginny Weasley and famous Harry Potter, both raising their wands to Crabbe and Goyle. Blaise slightly scowled, much tenser than usual and slid a hand to his wand-pocket, but I was faster.

"What do you think you're doing Potter? I don't remember you being a Head Boy to allow yourself to rule in the corridors." I apostrophized him. Of course The Boy Who Lived would have thought that Saint Dumbledore would have named _him_ Head Boy rather than King Weasley. I saw at his whitening fingers as he tightened his grip on his wand that I was right.

"The same doesn't go for me, Granger." stated the Weasley girl.

I gritted my teeth. Even though I couldn't explain why, I knew better than to provoke her. I got lost for a moment in the redhead's deep brown eyes and finally decided not to draw my own weapon.

"Oh come on. How would it be seen for a Prefect to be involved in a fight on her first day on duty." I argued.

"I don't know, you tell me" Weasley taunted, pointing at my Head Girl badge.

"I don't remember being the one who provoked the duel. But I am sure that Professor Snape would love to hear about this if you don't clear off the way."

Both Potter and the Weasley girl lowered their wands a little bit, mister famous throwing a questioning look at his friend. She nodded and put her wand back into her robes, inviting Potter to do the same. A victorious smile curled up my rose lips. Brains would always triumph, whatever some of my friends might think.

"It seems like you're smarter than the average Slytherin – though that can't be too hard" commented the Gryffindor girl through clenched teeth.

"I could give you back this compliment, though I thought that you Gryffindors wore those terrible red ties for bravery, not cowardice." I mocked. "Let's go guys, we have nothing more to lose around those people" I added to Crabbe, Goyle and Blaise.

The boys didn't object and simply followed me back into the compartment, though Blaise seemed to hesitate for a second. When we were back, Draco and Pansy were finally off each other and were already wearing their black robes, Draco reading the Prophet on his bench and Pansy lost in Witch Weekly on hers. Draco didn't even seem to realise that we hadn't brought any food with us and simply slid to the side to let me and Blaise get to our trunks and robes.

Later that evening, we all had regained our favourite couches next to the stained glass windows behind which the black lake lay, its green light drawing soft shadows onto the common room floor. Blaise, Draco, Pansy and I had earned the honorific title of "the Silver Four" for we all had our reasons to be the most envied Slytherins; Blaise was mostly admired for his uncanny beauty and wealth both inherited from his mother, Draco for the influence and reputation of his family and his natural charisma, Hermione for her astonishing wit and wisdom and Pansy … well, she was Draco's puffer whenever he needed affection or only just to release his anger or needs. Moreover, we were all from the purest blood. At least I made sure that everybody kept believing this.

How could I have explained that by the day I was sure to be able to produce a strong enough memory charm in third year, I had erased my existence from my Muggle parents' memory and sent them to live in Ireland? Since then I had survived the summer holidays at a certain _friend's_ place on Spinner's End, devouring the books that covered the walls of his sitting room when he let her out of the attic hidden beneath a tricked bookshelf. He wasn't there very often anyway, too busy working his wand off for that old crackpot's sake. I didn't think we could really have lived together for that long otherwise. He might be the most pleasant teacher at Hogwarts if you were in Slytherin, but he still only took me in because he pitied my situation and I cooked and cleaned for him - though he didn't let me touch an inch of his clothing, thank God.

I turned back to Draco who was in a deep conversation with Blaise about how reduced the Slytherin Quidditch team would be without him as a Seeker this year, Pansy's head resting on his torso, fast asleep.

"Why would you give away such a good occasion to wash off Potter's smile though?" I suddenly asked, my voice ringing through the nearly empty common room.

Draco's smirk faded right away, his calculating look quickly gauging me. I was extremely rare that I participated in Quidditch-based discussions. Then, his smile re-emerged from its ashes, accompanied by a hearty laugh.

"I have been given better plans to turn down Potter for quite a longer time than a Quidditch match" he said, contemplating his short nails.

I was quite sure that Pansy would have been highly interested in hearing about this mysterious announcement, but right now I couldn't be happier that she was in a deep sleep. Something about Draco was definitely odd lately. Blaise snorted loudly.

"And what is it now? Are you going to lurk him into another Chamber of Secret like Ginny Weasley? If you want my point of view, I think that Potter and his friends are quite good at getting into mortal danger themselves. Do I need to remind you of the troll and the Philosopher's Stone in first year? Even that whole story with Umbridge last year could have ended badly. And I haven't even mentioned the Triwizard Tournament" Blaise observed quite sceptically.

Draco suddenly lifted his feet from the low table to sit upright, facing him. Pansy's head unexpectedly fell onto his lap, waking her from her drowsiness. As she looked up, rubbing her eyes with her knuckles, Draco's temper exploded.

"No, Blaise, I did _not_ ask for your opinion!" he bellowed.

Then, still breathing quite heavily and rejecting the hand Pansy put on his arm, he continued on a colder tone.

"The problem about Potter is that he is as good at getting into trouble than getting out of it. People like him too much, protect him. And that has to come to an end."

I couldn't control the shiver that ran through my spine. It wasn't as if it were the first time Draco spoke like that about Potter. Yet still, I couldn't help but feeling like this time was different.

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Hi guys, thank you very much for reading this chapter! I hope that you appreciated it and that I'll see you on the next one. Please leave a comment and tell me what you liked or disliked.

Ps: I am currently looking for a Beta


	2. Chapter 2

**Last Chance**

Chapter Two

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The next morning at breakfast in the great hall, Draco barely looked up from his untouched plate as professor Snape gave out our timetables. I was left abashed. Usually he was the first to throw himself at the paper that would define the year to come. I then decided to take a lot at it herself, still quite perplexed. I however was way too caught in my reading to notice that the head of our house was standing behind me, now slightly leaning forward to my left ear.

"Don't you feel like you forgot something when you left yesterday?" he whispered so low that no one but me could hear.

Caught by surprise, my elbow hit the table, sending my knife to the ground. As Blaise who was sitting next to me finally looked up by the sound of the metal against the stone floor, professor Snape was already gone. For a second I thought about an excuse, but then remembered that Blaise wouldn't care. Indeed he simply bent over and picked up the cutlery before getting back to his egg and bacon. I was about to do the same, as I noticed Draco was already leaving the table and thus without his timetable.

Decided to set an end to this nonsense or at least to clear it up, I took the paper from Pansy's hands and followed him.

"Hey Granger! What do you think you're doing?" Pansy called after me, but I couldn't care less.

Apparently Draco and I both had newt potions next anyway. He wouldn't go far without me. By the entrance to the dungeons, I had finally caught up with him, finding him through the crowd thanks to his platinum blond locks.

"Draco are you alright? You really seem to be out of sorts lately." I asked.

The blond swiftly looked over my face and body with an unnaturally expressionless face. Usually he at least smirked a little when checking me out – not that I really missed that. I did like Draco a lot, but not that way.

"I kind of preferred you in the dress you had on yesterday." he simply commented.

I rolled my eyes, but couldn't repress a smile. At least that part of him was as irksome as usual.

"What should I say; your mother has good tastes. I'd say that I am right by assuming that she also is the one having the final word on your robes, considering how they fit." I retorted.

Draco shrugged as he held the potion class's door open for me.

"She definitely has an eye for people's body" he agreed while he detailed me one last time.

I blushed deeply this time. When he started doing that after her great moment at the Yule ball, on the day Victor Krum finally revealed me as the perfectly normal and potentially pretty girl I was, I was always quite annoyed at first. I felt as if he only considered me like a piece of meat. For a moment I even preferred the times when I doubted if he wasn't only hanging out with me to get the good grades. But after a moment I realised with a certain pride that I had never seen him do so with another girl. Not even Pansy, though that wasn't a great surprise. Pansy might have been working very hard on her body since she had noticed Draco glancing at me, but she would never be able to do anything against her childishly thin hips and her virtually flat chest. And of course there was her bulldog face illustrating only too well how bright she was. Thus being not at all.

Draco and I sighted simultaneously as Saint Potter and King Weasley entered the classroom even though the class had started ten minutes ago. Of course the new teacher was delighted to see their little celebrity. Who wasn't around this demented school? Yesterday we had already had a little chat about Slughorn. To Draco, losing professor Snape was a sure disaster. I was only disappointed once more to see that my house-mate apparently still didn't trust me enough to tell those important news. Whoever was teaching, I knew that I could manage it. After all, I still got an O at my Care of Magical Creatures owls even with that giant mistake as a teacher – pun intended.

Don't take me wrong, as a secret Muggle-born, I would never allow myself to judge people based on if they were semi-giants, centaurs or whatever. But with that joke of a teacher, it really didn't matter what he was. If it didn't make it worse.

While Weasley and Potter took a seat at the back of the classroom, I let my thoughts wander back to Draco's last comment. Of course I had blushed like an idiot. Did he suspect anything after last Christmas? If he did, my reaction surely didn't help.

Today concentrating on lessons was much harder than usual, and for once it wasn't for the customary reason. I had nearly been caught off-guard in potions when we had to identify the cauldrons. How could I possibly do otherwise with everything happening now? Last year everything about the dark lord had rather been kept under control by professor Umbridge, but after the disaster of the Department of Mysteries at the end of our fifth year, nothing was really a secret anymore. Plus Lucius had been sent to Azkaban, which had definitely been a nail in the coffin for Draco and Narcissa.

I didn't know what to think of the day He would strike for the first time. Sure one some week-ends Draco's aunt and some other Death Eaters went _hunting_ together – an activity which mainly consisted in killing or torturing random Muggle, hybrids, Mudbloods or other people of that kind, but that wasn't that surprising once you had met them. And I sadly had that pleasure one some holidays I at spent at Malfoy manor. When she was around Narcissa, Bellatrix Lestrange stayed quite amicable, but the few times I had heard her talking with her other friends on the Easter holidays last year she was simply terrifying. As far as I could, I had always avoided her company.

I would definitely never forget the Easter dinner I spent sitting in front of her. Draco was like a brother to me. Usually he could tell when I wasn't comfortable in a situation. But that day he was way too busy talking about his promotion to the Inquisitorial Squad with his father. Instead Narcissa who was sitting next to me had been the one to put a soothing hand on my thigh as Bellatrix's eyes pierced through me behind her crazy curls. The cackle that had followed had sent chill through my bones that I wasn't ready to forget. On some night I still thought that I heard it in the castle like it had been resonating in the giant dinner room of the manor.

When the first day of school finally came to an end, I decided to run from my Arythmancy lesson to the dungeons, using every possible shortcut that I knew. With everybody being too eager to go to the Great Hall and share their first day with their friends, it was the perfect occasion to see meet my nasty professor without being seen. I couldn't tell why everybody in Slytherin liked professor Snape that much. It would probably be very different if he treated us like everybody else. For my part, I couldn't tolerate his character very much. Sure people like Potter could do with somebody telling them straight to their face that they weren't mister perfect, but others like the Longbottom kid seemed to have it hard enough without professor Snape pointing at them. Narcissa's sister still seemed to consider his parents insanity as one of her greatest achievements.

Still thinking about the devilish woman, I opened the last shortcut with more fierceness then I would have wanted. I was rooted to the spot.

"I really don't think this is sa…"

The youngest Weasley had finally turned around to see me standing above her, my face suddenly as blank as my mind. The dark skinned boy standing too close to her was definitely not who anybody would have expected to see. Ginny Weasley was supposedly dating the dark skinned Dean Thomas, her fellow Gryffindor, not the one who impersonated the good looks of the silver four; Blaise. Yet their closeness and the fear and my friend's face were unmistakable.

"Mione please don't tell Draco" Blaise pathetically pleaded.

The Weasley girl snorted.

"Stop being so ridiculous. Granger is smart enough not break you guys' little image. Anyway nobody would believe such nonsense." the redhead reasoned.

The next thing I knew, she walked past me and left the narrow staircase. My eyes stayed stuck on Blaise for a few more seconds, but then I was finally able to move and walked to him and past. A second later however he was next to me again.

"Hermione, please, promise." he begged once more.

I stopped once more. If I walked down only two more corridors, he would know where I was heading to.

"Blaise, I really don't care who you're seeing and I won't tell anybody. But I won't lie either. Draco is my best friend. If he has doubts about you and asks me if I know something, I can't protect you." I finally explained.

Somehow, he seemed quite relieved. If I was in his situation, the conditions that I offered him would definitely not satisfy me. And by Merlin's beard did I know how complicated his situation was. If our roles were inverted, I would probably find the best secret he keeps to put pressure on him.

"Thank you. But just in case you changed your mind, you do know that I am aware that you live with prof…"

His threat had quickly been muffled by the hand I put on his mouth as the Patil twin passed by. Blaise was unquestionably a Slytherin. I actually suspected him of being much brainier than he wanted to give out. After all he was taking only one newts class less than I did.

"Alright, alright. I won't say a thing, but be careful. Your friend is right somehow – she seemed quite smart herself for a Gryffindor. It could cause us our royalty status over Slytherin." I warned him.

"I didn't know that you cared about those things." he wondered.

"I don't." I rectified. "But Draco does, so I do."

"Yeah, it all makes sense now…" mocked Blaise.

I rolled my eyes with a faint smile and he finally left after I told him that I would see him at dinner later. Then I checked my watch, discovering in horror that it was six already. Professor Snape was bound to be at the dinner table already. I decided to try my luck anyway. I didn't run through half of the castle for nothing.

Five minutes later I was surprised to see that he was still in his office indeed, sitting behind his desk and stirring a cauldron with an expression of deep boredom. Nothing unusual so far. My tense muscles loosened a little bit and I knocked on the door.

"Miss Granger, I was wondering when you would finally show up." he said in his deep nasal tones.

"How come you are still brewing potions? Isn't that professor Slughorn's job now?" I asked, deciding not to react to his cynicism.

"It should be indeed. Your dear professor nevertheless felt that it was rather his duty to enjoy the dinner than to help me refurbishing the Verita Serum stocks after professor Umbridge's vendetta." he explained calmly.

Regardless how much I did loath him, I could never help admiring my professor's talent with words and potions. Even though I had to admit that professor Slughorn seemed to be a much better and fairer teacher than he was.

"So what it is it that I forgot, sir?" I claimed, adding "sir" just after I caught the look his black eyes threw at me.

After a longer hesitancy, he finally left his desk to stand right in front of me. I had never noticed how tall he actually was.

"I am not wrong in assuming that you are quite close to mister Malfoy, am I right?" he inquired.

I simply nodded. Was it just me or did the room get measurably colder?

"So I equally assume that, considering your wit, you would be the first person he would turn to if he was to undertake a difficult task."

Once again, I could only nod. Something about him tonight was even scarier than his natural gloomy aura. It was worse than seeing him drunk at home on Halloween every year.

"On another hand, I think that considering what I can see in your mind, we are both certainly worried about him this year. Therefore I most expressly request that if he shared any dangerous or quite unusual plans with you, you will directly come to me." he commanded.

It was quite obvious that he didn't give me a choice here, but still was very far from agreeing to those terms. I had way too much loyalty for Draco to betray him so easily. If professor Snape requested my help on whatever this was, it was certainly because he knew that Draco would never share anything with him. Anyway I was as far from discovering what was up with Draco than he was. My sensible side spoke for me nevertheless. After all if something important enough for professor Snape to care was up, it probably wasn't such a bad idea to be on his side.

As I finally remembered this summer, my mind finally settled. I suddenly remembered quite clearly the day where Narcissa and her sister had turned up at Spinner's End. As if he had seen them coming, my house-mate had sent to my room hidden behind secret bookshelf. But even from there I had recognized the voices, though I couldn't make out what had been said. Back then I had thought that it was only a courtesy visit, even though it had surprised me. He always hid me when someone came over – for the few times in three years this had happened. Right now I felt stupid for not sensing that something was odd.

I finally looked up to my professor and nodded a last time.

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Sooo guys ! I was really excited about this chapter because I think that it really settles Hermione's view of this world much better and gives us a really good insight at how life is in her position right now. As usual, I'd be really eager to read your comments! For those who are here for the smut – yes I know some of you will be, I've been there – I will help you by telling you that there will be a warning before those chapters. Moreover I will take this opportunity to inform you that this fiction will be written so that every smut chapter can be skipped without altering your understanding of the story. See you on the next chapter ! (it shouldn't take very long this time !)


	3. Chapter 3

**Last Chance**

Chapter Three

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The mood stayed the same over weeks. Draco was avoiding Pansy again, which resulted in her hanging out with me instead, to my greatest disenchantment. The more I spent time with her, the shallower she seemed to me. Blaise alternated from Pansy and me to Crabbe and Goyle when he really didn't want to be alone, and on some evenings he disappeared for hours at a time, though I thought I knew why. Draco didn't seem to notice however, since he was often vanishing himself. If I didn't have to keep Pansy from wondering about his whereabouts – I had the ominous belief that the least people noticed Draco's behaviour, the best – I would have followed him straightaway.

Even when the time for the Gryffindor Quidditch tryouts came, Draco didn't join the others to go and _cheer up_ Weasley. The last time I had seen him behaving normally was on the morning he was muttering rude things about Potter for suddenly being so good at Potions. To be fair I had to admit that we definitely had less things to complain about this year; professor Snape was our Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, we could finally give up Care for Magical Creatures and Divination and old Dumbledore and Potter himself were rarely to be seen around the castle.

It was only halfway through October that things changed. Our first trip to Hogsmeade had finally been announced and to my great astonishment, Draco was planning to go. He had stopped joining the crowed for at least a year straight now, preferring to have the empty common room to himself to get some private time with one of the girls that formed his harem, if you see what I mean. At first Blaise had followed his habits, but after a moment it seemed to have lost his interest. It was only now that I understood that it might have been when he started seeing the Weasley girl – or let's say Ginny, for Blaise's sake.

After Draco announced that he would go to the trip, I was quite surprised to see that he managed to turn down Pansy's eagerness to join him. Usually he didn't even bother trying. He actually even quite enjoyed showing off how much she liked running after him. But nowadays I couldn't take his new attitude as an unexpected sign of maturity. Something was obviously up. Deciding that I finally had my perfect opening to find out, I told everybody that was staying at the library to have some quiet reading time– nobody would ever look for me there nor suspect that it might be a lie.

Shortly after everybody had left, I had finally entered the main hall, the hood of my jacket pulled over my head, just in case. My heart skipped a beat as I saw that Filch was still lingering around the main door. I hadn't put my name on the list. I quickly hid behind a statue next to a broomstick cupboard. He didn't seem to have noticed me. I took out my wand feverishly. The end justifies the means, right? It was for Draco after all. Too preoccupied by my mischief, I didn't hear the cupboard next to me open.

"What do you think you're doing Granger?" called a harsh, yet amused voice.

My heart sank to my stomach and came back in place in a second. It was only Weas… Ginny. I raised a finger to my mouth to silence her.

"I could ask you the same Weasley. Are you looking for a new home?" I taunted.

Very low. I usually never joined Draco on his mocks of the Weasley's financial situation. It decided to consider it as a part of being under pressure. _If in doubt, act like Draco_ didn't really seem like a very good life Leitmotiv though, to be fair. The redhead didn't seem very affected by my words however.

"I was waiting for Blaise if you need to know. Have you seen him somewhere around?" she simply asked.

I couldn't help being a little impressed by how good she could contain her emotions. Her brother was always close to exploding when Draco played with him, his ears Gryffindor red. I looked into Ginny's eyes for the second time since the Hogwarts Express. There truly was something fascinating about her that I couldn't quite explain. She was far from competing with my secret angel nevertheless.

"If you let me pass, I won't tell Filch what you're doing." I proposed.

"Sneaky, I recognize your house in there." she approved.

If I didn't know that she must hate me for being a Slytherin, I would have sworn that she smiled a little. We didn't need to shake hands or anything stupid Draco always insisted on. She only nodded and disappeared into the cupboard again. I threw a last glimpse at her fire-red sleek mane and turned over to make sure that Filch hadn't left his spot. I breathed out quickly and directed the tip of my wand onto him. This was a huge risk to take just to make sure that Draco was alright.

 _Stupefy_ I whispered as the last girl from the group of first years vacated the hall. A second later Filch froze on the spot and fell to the ground face first. I quickly swished and flicked my wand, rushing a levitation charm on his body to keep him from getting harmed too badly – his face already looked mistreated enough like this – and rushed past him.

I didn't stop running when I finally set foot on the ground or as I passed the gate, ignoring the snow that kept blurring my sight and the stitch building up on my left side. With the time I lost talking to Ginny, Draco must be far now. As the first houses of the little village appeared in the far, I had finally caught up with the last of the group that had left Hogwarts earlier, though my friend was nowhere to be seen. It took me twenty more minutes to find him in the streets of Hogsmeade, his hair only blending in too well with the blizzard. He was just about to enter the Three Broomsticks when I put a hand on his forearm. He jumped at my touch and clutched tightly on some old rug that I hadn't noticed before.

"Hermione! Don't touch that!" he ordered.

He had nearly seemed frightened. I decided to ignore his bizarre advice. When he needed a handkerchief he usually preferred much more noble fabrics.

"Listen Draco, you won't be able to ignore me the …" I paused in the middle of my sentence.

The next unwary movement he had made was to rub the forearm I had just grabbed. A horrible thought instantly stroke through my mind, but I forced myself to ignore it. Mr Malfoy may be one of them and Narcissa might never disinvite them from her home place, but Draco? He was so young and … And what? The Dark Lord never really cared about those things when he had a plan.

After all Draco was in a perfect position to do His biddings, living here in Hogwarts. But He would never let anybody touch Potter instead of him, regardless of their possibilities. I couldn't help remembering Draco's short speech on our first evening back here in our common room. He had sounded so determined to crush Potter that even I had got scared somehow. Would he really be able to harm somebody intentionally?

The second time he tried to push the door to the pub I held his shoulder instead, just in case. He turned his head to throw me a frozen, dirty look through his crystal blue eyes.

"Let me go Hermione." he requested coolly.

"No. You're going to tell me what you are up to lately or I will have to force you to it." I warned him.

"Oh and how are you planning to let this miracle happen?" he mocked.

My eyes narrowed and I quickly studied my possibilities. I had to act smart and fast. My eyes fell back on his old rug. From a closer look, it actually seemed to contain something. Something that he didn't want anybody to see. Probably even the reason why he didn't want any of us to follow him today, I realised. I came a step closer, reducing the distance between us to a bare foot.

"Do you remember what you said the day you found out about my situation?" I reminded him without breaking eye-contact.

Draco quickly looked around us, making sure that nobody would hear what he had to answer. _Coward_ , I thought.

"I told you not to worry, because I was your family now. Hermione if this is about you not being allowed to come over for Christmas, I am really sorry, but things are difficult right now. It wouldn't be safe for you." He answered.

I couldn't restrain a cold laugh.

"Draco, we both know that since the Triwizard Tournament, nobody is really safe anymore, whoever your parents might be." I argued.

I didn't expect him to react so strongly though. His entire face turned even paler than usual, nearly ghost-like, and he opened his mouth a few times before being able to say a word.

"You don't know what you're talking about. My parents …"

"… were really respected, I will never pretend the opposite, but after what happened last year for you father, I am quite afraid that a few things have changed for you. I am worried for you. Please Draco. Just talk to me!"

"Stop treating me like a child! I can take care of myself. Whatever I might or might not be doing, it is my business and I am totally in control. Now let me go and get back to the castle if you have a little bit of your wisdom left." snarled Draco.

I shook my head in distress. What was it with boys and their thirst to prove themselves? As he was about to turn around for the last time, I did what I should have done from the beginning, the only thing that could have kept him from cutting me off. I quickly leaning forward and grabbed the old rug. Draco's grip on it was way too tight though and I could only feel the edge of its cold content against my fingers.

The last thing I remembered was Draco's terrorised expression before he ran away and everything turned dark.

* * *

Hi guys! Thank you for those of you who commented on the earlier chapters, I was really pleased to see some reviews. I personally only half like this chapter because it is fairly shorter than the others and the narrating at the beginning is quite long, but the cut had to be done here for obvious reasons. I hope that I can still count on you for the next chapters! It shouldn't be too long this time again, since I have the three or four next chapters planned, but with me coming home from my year abroad in two weeks, you never know …


	4. Chapter 4

**Last Chance**

Chapter Four

* * *

I had been speculating for rather a long time if when people lay unconscious, they actually discerned what was happening around them. Did they know if their flowers got changed and their relatives squeezed their hands tightly, hoping for a response, but they just couldn't move an inch? Today I finally had an answer to those silent questions, for I woke up what felt like a minute after everything went dark. Only I lay in the hospital wing, curtains drawn around me, the light of daybreak surrounding me.

I slowly pushed myself up to sit against the rail of my bed, detailing the place. There were a few untouched boxes of sweets – mostly Berty Bott's and Chocolate Frogs – a bouquet of hanging daffodils and a get-well card from the rest of the silver four. I bent over to smell the flowers with a faint smile. They still smelled like her. Had she been here or did she only send them from her personal gardens? I would have been content with both. I was about to try to swing my legs over the bed and have a look for Madam Pomfrey as I heard his light steps on the stone floor. I would have recognized the sound of his hundred Galleons brogues everywhere. Definitely not ready to face him again, I quickly lay back down and shut my eyes just in time before he pulled the shades open.

"Hermione, I know that you are awake, the card was on the right of the narcissus, not on its left." stated Draco.

I hesitated for a second, then finally sighed and opened my eyes, but didn't say a word.

"Please say something … Don't you think that I have been worried enough this past week?" he pleaded.

"I have been gone for an entire week?!" I cried out despite my previous resolution.

Draco only set his sight on his shoes and nodded, just like a child being reprimanded by his mother. Why couldn't he be mad at me and make my job of hating him easier?

"Please Draco; just tell me what for Merlin's beard you are doing! Who deserved whatever this rag contained and was strong enough to knock me down for a week when I only brushed against it?"

He shook his head in disapproval, but his face stayed frightened and pained.

"You know when you reminded me of your secret living-place? Well you need to remember something else if you want to understand my situation. For you the Sorting Hat hesitated; you could have ended up being a Gryffindor and do all sorts of stupid stuff to be there for your friends, but you became Slytherin because your need to achieve great things was stronger. For me the Hat barely even touched me! I was born so deeply in Slytherin that I don't have the choice of being who I am destined to be. I need this, Hermione, and I need to do it alone if I want things to be back at normal at the Manor. You just can't imagine how things are …" he explained.

"Then take me with you over the Christmas holidays!" I retorted fiercely.

"I already told you that it was impossible! Hermione you just don't understand." His already whispering voice dropped to a barely audible hiss. "It's not just Bellatrix anymore!"

I sustained his desperate gaze for long seconds, defying his trembling grey eyes. And it was without breaking our eye-contact that I argued, separating each word very clearly.

"Draco, if you don't at least let me see this with my own eyes, I will _have_ to take more desperate measures."

His perfect blond brows frowned for a second, but then he finally let go. Though it was clear that he doubted that I was in any position to menace him, he certainly didn't want to try me. I forced a brief smile on my lips and caught his large hand in both of mine.

"We can do this together Draco" I promised.

He suddenly pulled his hand off me with a look of utter disbelief.

"I am not sharing this with you! It is mine; it is _my_ time to prove myself! I am only considering taking you with me for Christmas to shake you off!" he finally defended and stood up from his chair, throwing the flowers to the ground on his way.

A second later Draco had left me in the shatter of the breaking glass. I already heard the hurried footsteps of Madam Pomfrey crossing the room, so I urged to take my wand and fix the damage. Draco didn't need to be both late in lessons and harassed by the school nurse. While the vase could be mended perfectly, the daffodils where definitely ruined. I sighed once more.

"What did you do to Malfoy to get him in such a mood when you only just woke up?" asked a slightly familiar and amused voice.

So these were the hurried footsteps.

"What made you rush so fast through the hospital wing? If you didn't want to be seen near a Slytherin, I think that you failed" I riposted.

She shrugged and ran a hand through her luscious hair.

"I told him that I was looking for his father, I think that he didn't appreciate that. And by the way, you Slytherins care much more about who you are seen with than we do. My brother has been dating a Ravenclaw, Cedric and Cho were from Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw." she argued.

I knew that I should have been absolutely stunned by her insolence, but at the moment I couldn't help being somehow amazed. This girl unquestionably had something. Blaise always had the most refined tastes of us all. Though Pansy did make a good choice with Draco, she wasn't the first thus I never really took it in account.

"Yeah and Weasley is dating Brown, one of the Weasley twins that Johnson girl from Quidditch, Finnigan is seeing the Gryffindor Patil twin … So, what brings you here so early? Are you trying to get a shot at slitting my throat while the others are at breakfast?" I mocked.

"I see that you are a real fan" she laughed. "But if I really wanted to get at you, my wand would be enough, anytime I want. Other than that, even if it might surprise you, I actually wanted to see how you were doing. People do that sometimes you know. They care about other human-beings."

"Oh so now we are friends or something?"

She shrugged once more.

"We are not as rancorous as you are. Don't think that I never noticed that you and Blaise were the only ones who never really helped when Draco was on one of his new plans to ruin Harry or whoever stood in his way. I don't believe in wholly good or bad people and despite what you might want to show, you're not a bad person Granger."

I sat there in utter disbelief for at least a minute. Everything she just said was rumbling through my brain, fighting with my very core principles. Was I really considering a friendship with Ginny Weasley? Sure she was by far a better candidate than Pansy for those matters, but did Slytherin-Gryffindor friendships even exist? I promised myself to look that up at the library as soon as Madam Pomfrey would let me leave the hospital wing.

"Well then you will be relieved to hear that I am doing very well. I guess that you can go and enjoy your breakfast in peace now."

I could have sworn that a quick smile crossed her pink lips.

"Thank you for authorizing me" she taunted and stood up to leave just as Draco had. Somehow hurt, just as he had been.

"Ginny, wait!" I called after her.

She stared back at me, probably as surprised as I was for the use of her first name, and threw a questioning look at me.

"I'm sorry for what I said last time. About you looking for a home in the broomstick cupboard. It was mean and stupid of me."

Her smile became even wider and she acquiesced, accepting my request for forgiveness. She hesitated for a moment as she separated two curtains to leave.

"Don't worry too much about that. You're not in that much of a better position yourself anyway, am I right?"

My face turned red up to the root of my hair. From shame or rage, I would never know.

As I left the hospital wing two whole days later, only too nervous about the amount of work I would have to catch up with, I very quickly realized how it was to be in Potter's shoes for a second. For a whole day being, I couldn't make a move without being scrutinized from head to foot by groups of students chatting in low voice, as if they were looking for a hidden monstrous scar somewhere. Even though the rumours were reaching wild heights, apparently no one had a clue that Draco was involved in what happened to me – whatever actually did happen to me.

Most of the people pretended that I had been cursed – the non-Slytherin and even some of us adding that I fully deserved it for being so irritating in lessons – and that Dark Magic had been implicated. In these times, I could somehow believe it myself. Others made up that they saw me duelling a first year and that I lost dramatically. If the Weasley twins hadn't left the school last year, I would have bet on them for this one. All in one, things actually smoothed down better and quicker than I expected, even if a couple more students appeared to have fled Hogwarts in the week of my accident.

What did change on the other hand, was that I couldn't help feeling like Weasley and Potter had started looking at me differently than as "Draco's friend", since Ginny came to see me. Did she say anything to them? Or did she expect me to go and talk to her in public from now on? Neither of us took a step forward in any case, and the weeks flew by without any disruption. Not even Blaise seemed to bother about me betraying his secret dating life anymore. It was only a week before the Christmas holidays that things got a little bit tensed.

Draco was once again bitter that Slughorn kept inviting Blaise and me to his little club happenings, Pansy was hoping for him to get in and take her as a plus one and I was still thinking about a way to convince Draco to have me at the mansion over the holidays.

"Draco if you really want to go, I can still tell professor Slughorn that I changed my mind and then you can go as my date. My friendly date" I added after Pansy's venomous look.

It was the third time this week that we were having this discussion.

"I don't need to be invited by sole pity, Hermione!" retorted Draco as he jabbed his spoon into his porridge with such fierceness that some of it exploded onto Pansy's face.

I rolled my eyes. These boys would kill me one day. They invite a girl to a ball, they are doughty knights, but if a witch dares inviting them, it is a sheer disgrace. I was about to retort, as I felt a soft and cold finger brushing my shoulder. I waited a few more seconds before I looked up, avoiding any suspicions from my friends. Indeed my bat-like professor was just leaving the Great Hall after following the Slytherin table on his way out.

"I just remembered that I forgot my runes dictionary in the dormitory, I have to leave now if I want to be in time." I pretended as I stood from the table.

Not even Draco looked up. Well of course a couple of first and third years were looking in my direction, but I knew better that it was more for Draco and Blaise's sculptural features than mine. So I simply left the room to join the dungeons and professor Snape's office, somehow even more anxious than the first time this occurred. I didn't even have the time to knock before he spoke.

"Come in" he commented, his deep, nasal tenor as peculiar as ever.

"Sir?"

"Close the door"

I obeyed, suddenly very eager to get this over with. Sharing a closed room with him had never been the favourite part of my every-day-life. It wasn't even for how sallower his skin looked like in the only light of the candles in the dungeons or how darker and more threatening his charcoal eyes looked like in the darkness, but rather for how more human he seemed. When he was just a teacher, he had that untouchable, unquestionable aura, but right now, like so many times over the summer, he seemed so much more human, vulnerable and approachable.

Nevertheless it was probably just my imagination, because I had never, ever, seen Professor Severus Snape being truly weak or just even sentimental. For the exception of the night of Halloween of course, though once again I would say that it was mainly because of the firewhisky he always buys for the occasion.

"So?" he simply asked.

I swallowed with much difficulty.

"Well I tried to talk to him, but he stays so reserved. He doesn't want to "share" whatever plans he has. It sounds as if he thinks that he can get acknowledged over his father's mistakes by doing whatever he does."

Professor Snape clenched his teeth in displeasure.

"How naïve you can be. You have to ruse him into trusting you, you cannot _wait_ for him to unwrap, or it will be too late."

"But I don't want to force him! He already seems extremely stressed about all this, sir."

"You are being by far too sentimental. It might have been a blunder to rely on your judgment Miss Granger. You worry too sturdily about his comfort to do your bidding properly. I will have to take this in my hands." deliberated Snape.

"No, please sir. Leave me at least the Christmas holidays. If he knows that I talked to you …"

Professor Snape's eyes narrowed. Evidently, he didn't approve of me thwarting his plans. However I couldn't risk missing my best chance to finally resolve the mystery of Draco's behaviour. In the end, the head of my house acquiesced half-heartedly and gauged me for a second over his crooked nose. I didn't need a second to understand that he was going to do it again. Legilimency and then erase my memories of it. This time I had done my research about the sudden blank feeling that my last chat with him had left. But I decided to let him.

"No trace of resistance today, Miss Granger?" he snarled.

"I know that I can't go up against you anyway."

The only pleasant thing about someone like Professor Snape practically raping your mind is that he manages to stay gentle somehow. He never touches the memories of my nights with my angel, or those of my childhood with my parents or whatever doesn't concerns what he is looking for. As long as I keep my mind blank from the thoughts I don't want him to see, he won't go looking for them.

As I walked out of his office a few minutes later, my mind was perfectly clear this time. No memory charm. My brain itself though, was still too preoccupied with the little time I had left to crack fort Draco to see that I was walking straight into someone. I lifted my eyes onto Draco himself, holding an elegant peacock feather in his hand.

"I thought that you were going to our common room. You're basically on the opposite side of the dungeons" he wondered, startled.

"Yes I … I went to the potions classroom to tell Professor Slughorn that I would definitely not come to his Christmas party." I lied. "What's with the feather?"

He appeared quite puzzled for a second, but after that he was too keen to share his thoughts to pay any more attention to my less than inspired tale.

"It is for the list in the common room. You're leaving the castle over Christmas."

* * *

Soo this is probably my longest chapter so far, but at least I am sure to be in time with what I have planned. Chapter five will be concerning Christmas and chapter six one of those lovely smuts that you can feel free to skip if you're not really into that or simply under-aged. At least one chapter should come next week. For a second one a can't promise anything, especially since I wanted to post it along with the seventh chapter, so that people who won't read the sixth one still have something to read.

As usual, tell me what you thought, I am all ears and open to constructive criticism!


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